The present invention relates to means for joining tissue together and medical instruments for applying such means.
The joining of tissue is of critical importance in medical and surgical treatments. The tissues joined may be those of fascia, various organs, muscle, skin and the like. In the past, tissues have been joined by using various types of sutures with specific sutures being developed for the joining of various specific tissues. More recently, metallic fasteners have been developed. For example, staples for the joining of skin. Also, staples and appropriate instruments have been developed for joining tissues including those of the intestine and other organs. Recently, work has been done on trying to develop nonmetallic fasteners for tissues and to make these fasteners from either absorbable or non-absorbable polymeric materials. Patents which describe various types of such fasteners are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,006,747 and 4,060,089.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,444 there is disclosed a wire suture wrapping instrument which describes a wire suture which coils upon itself and may be placed about a tubular member to clamp that tubular member. The wire is wound around itself to the desired degree to obtain the desired tightness. A related instrument is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,762.
Though the above-described fasteners are satisfactory for many different end uses, there has not been developed a single configured fastener that can be used with virtually any tissue, whether skin, fascia, muscle, organ, or the like. In order to have a suitable fastener that can be used in all end uses, it must provide hemostatis without necrosis; that is, it must hold the tissue together and stop bleeding without killing tissue. The fastener should be usable with a wide variety of tissues; i.e., tissue of various thickness as well as tissue of various strength. The fastener should be simple to place and be placeable with consistency. Each fastener should be placed in the same manner providing the same degree of tension in closing as other fasteners. Furthermore, the fastener should be simple and economical to manufacture.
What I have discovered is a new type of fastener which may be used on various types of tissues. The fastener is simple in construction and economical to manufacture. The fastener is easy to place and each fastener can be placed in a consistent manner because of its simple design. My new fastener will hold various types of tissue and tissue configurations together preventing blood loss and providing hemostasis without causing undue trauma or necrosis.